And "beetroot" is just a slice of beet as far as I can tell... the purplish thing above the tomato. Another McDonald's issue dealing with Australian food is a local sandwich that is basically an egg McMuffin. Somehow McDonald's convinced the Sydney government that any local restaurants serving this were guilty of copyright infringement and they now have to serve them in hotdog buns. Kind of like a Kid's Plate USA :).posted by kidsplateusa at 12:06 PM on September 23, 2000

"Last October, McDonald's released the McOz, but dropped it after four weeks for fear of denuding Australia of its entire beetroot crop."

"'There is no way this would sell in America,' he said. 'In the American mind, there is not a natural connection between beet and hamburgers. It would be a very strange and foreign thing ...'"posted by smackfu at 12:15 PM on September 23, 2000

Dear plinth, we'll forgive you if you'll forgive us that crocodile-hunting guy. Love, Georgina.posted by Georgina at 5:55 PM on September 23, 2000

I just wish they'd introduce the "real" McVeggie burgers from India rather than the mushroom based crap they serve here in NYC.posted by riffola at 8:53 PM on September 23, 2000

It's good to see the buns are still being "toasted" down under. It's no longer done here -- at least not here in New York City. I guess, they're afraid the chemical concoction making up the thing will go up in flames if heated beyond a certain point.posted by leo at 10:52 PM on September 23, 2000

Actually, one reason McDonald's has been so successful has been its adaptation to local tastes. This applies to regions of the US as well as to other countries.

I'd put good money on the assumption that the McOz, for example, was extensively taste-tested before placment on the menu. Mickey D's may be criticized for many things, but they don't play around.posted by dhartung at 12:01 AM on September 24, 2000

Yes, America has A LOT to apologize for.

Foisting McDonald's on Australia, however, is only one of your lesser crimes against humanity.

Australians have absorbed so much American tv over the years, that we sometimes forget that we're not Americans too.

It's the taste of beetroot that reminds us that we are a different nation.

Of course, I grew up eating (and loving) McDonald's.posted by howa2396 at 12:07 PM on September 24, 2000

"Another McDonald's issue dealing with Australian food is a local sandwich that is basically an egg McMuffin. Somehow McDonald's convinced the Sydney government that any local restaurants serving this were guilty of copyright infringement "

Have any of the local restaurants filed defamation charges? I'd be pretty offended if someone compared *my* cooking to anything served at McDonald's.posted by adamsc at 2:21 PM on September 24, 2000

[lagado] Yes, America has A LOT to apologize for.

Foisting McDonald's on Australia, however, is only one of your lesser crimes against humanity.

Australians have absorbed so much American tv over the years, that we sometimes forget that we're not Americans too.

It's easy to blame cultural decay around the world on "Americans" and "American culture." The true fact is that the regional cultures of the United States, the real American culture, have been slowly destroyed by the same forces. Certainly McDonald's and Taco Bell are no more in their natural place in Springfield, Missouri than in Sydney, Australia. My culture has been destroyed just like yours. The fact that it has emanated from the U.S. is trivial to that larger realization.posted by daveadams at 8:04 AM on September 25, 2000

hah, interesting way of looking at it, daveadams. One could say that these franchises of massive soul-destroying corporations are unnatural and foreign everywhere they go.

I wouldn't say Starbucks has all that much to do with Seattle, even though the original store (down in the Pike Place Market) fits into its surroundings perfectly. (It doesn't look all that much like one of its thousands of putative clones, though.)

And, you could argue, such global brands can only succeed by sacrificing the "local" in order to take over the locale.

One enduring memory from summers in Oxford is the way that hundreds of European teenagers, in town for summer schools, congregate outside McDs as the ideal place to meet. Scary.posted by holgate at 7:45 PM on September 25, 2000

In New Zealand they call that a "Kiwiburger" and foist it on the public with ad campaigns "celebrating kiwi culture". (sheep, gumboots, rugby-football players etc.)posted by Catch at 8:40 PM on September 29, 2000

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